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Mary (Ream) Flanigan was
born on Jan. 15, 1812 in Draketown, Somerset County, PA, the daughter of Thomas and Barbara (Haines) Ream Sr. Her middle name may have been "Elizabeth."
She entered into marriage with farmer Job Flanigan (1806-1887). Job was six years older than his bride. It's thought that Mary did not wed until after the death of her father in 1840, meaning she would have been no younger than age 28 at the time of matrimony. The Flanigans produced five known children -- Annabelle Burnworth, Mary "Missouri" McNear ("McNair"), Thomas Flanigan, Marcellus Flanigan and Howard Flanigan.
When the federal census was enumerated in 1850, the family dwelled in or near Johnson Chapel in Henry Clay Township, Fayette County. That year, other Flanigan families living next door were John and Margaret Flanigan and Andrew and Isabella Flanigan. They remained in Henry Clay through the decade of the 1850s and are shown there in the 1860 census, receiving their postal mail at Somerfield, Somerset County. Mary died on Nov. 19, 1867 at the age of about 55, reputedly in Fayette City, Fayette County. This site of death is not confirmed.
Job became interested in a newly forming Methodist movement circa 1871 when Rev. Silas Mitchell began holding services "in a vacant building on the bank of the Casselman river, where the bridge is now located," said the booklet Confluence Centennial 1873-1973: Record of a Century. Other services were conducted in the open air and in the Cook building on Oden Street. Said the booklet,
In 1880, at age 76, Job dwelled with his married daughter Mary and her husband Thomas McNair/McNear in the Grant District of Preston County, WV. He passed away in 1887. The particulars may be lost to history. The couple sleeps for all time in Johnson Chapel Cemetery. A modern marker stands at their gravesite.
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